Improvement in hat-sizing machines



l' dinard gratta aient (dimite Y. Lette/rs Patent No. 99,700, dated February 8, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN" HATLsIzING MACHINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that we, AUGUSTUS IPnmssn and FRANCIS DEGEN, both of Newark, in vthe county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have inventeda new l and improved Machine for Sizing Hate-Bodies; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference g being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which drawing-u` Ijignre l represents a longitudinal verticalV section of this invention. Figure 2 is a plan or top view of the same. Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention consists in the arrangement of' hands provided with an elastic working surface, and hinged to arms, which receive a reciprocating motion from a suitable drivi11g-mechanism, and. which are furnished with set-screws, acting on the opposite endsof the hinged hands in such a Amanner that by said elastic working-surface of the hands, an actionis produced similar to that of the natural hand, and, furthermore,

by means ofthe set-screws, the inclination of the hands toward the 1ap-side of the roll to be acted on can be regulated to suit the condition of the roll.

With the hands is V,combined an endless apron, which is stretched over the table, supporting the rolls under operation, and which travels with a slow mo-` tion toward the lap-side of the roll in such a manner that said roll receives a slow mot-ion iu the direction of itsY lap-side, and is thereby prevented from being pushed out over the end of. the supporting-table by the action ofthe hands.

Both the table and the endless apron supporting y the roll to be acted on, are placed into a tank and perforated to allow the water contained in said tank to pass freely up to the roll under operation.

The pressure of the hands upon the rolls is reg`ulated by springs, the tension of which can he increased or decreased at pleasure.

In the drawing- The letter A designates a frame, made of wood or any other suitable material, and provided at one end with bearings for the driving-shaft B and at its opposite end, with a tank, C.

The sides; ofA this tank form the bearings for two rollers, a a, ver which is stretched an endless apron, D, by preference made of India rubber; and this apron straddles a platform or table, E, which is firmly mortised in the sides of the tank, and which forms the support for the rolls under operation.

This platform is slight-ly inclined, as shown in iig. 1, and-both the platform andthe apron are perforated to allow a free passage for the water contained in the tank.

- From oneside of the tank C extends a table, F,'on which the rolls are prepared, the hat-bodies to he sized being wrapped into a piece of woollen cloth or flannel in the usual manner.

One roll after the other is then placed upon the apron D, and exposed to the action of mechanical hands, G, the lap-side of each roll being turned to wards the` driving-shaft B, as shown in the drawing.

The mechanical hands G are Vconstructed of frames 71, of wood or any Vother suitable material, over which is stretched a strip, c, of India rubber or other elastic material, so as to produce an elastic working-surface, and each ofthe hands is pivoted to an arm, H, connected by a pivot, d, to a cross-head, I, that receives a reciprocating motion from the driving-shaft. Each of these arms is provided with two set-screws, e, which bear on the ends of the hands G, so that said hands can be set to any desired inclination, and from the cross-head I extends a bracket, J, which carries pins, j, one to each of the arms, said pins forming the guides for spiral springs, g, which bear upon the arms and depress the hands upon the roll to be acted'on.

The tension of these springs can` be regulated by n means lof nuts, h, so that the pressure of the hands upon the rolls can be increased or diminished, as may be required. l

` From each of' the arms extends a rope, t', over aY pulley, y', secured in the ceiling over-head, or in brackets extending from the main frame, so that by pulling said ropes the hands can he raised from the platform E, to facilitate the operation oil introducing or remov ing the rolls.

One of the rollers a, which carry the apron D,l receives a slow revolving motion by means of a belt, k, best seen in iig. 2. y I v At the beginning ofthe operation, the hands G are set parallel, or nearly so, toward the platform E, but, as the operation progresses, their inner ends are gradually depressed, so that said hands incline toward the lap-side of the r'olls, it being well known that the roll acted on by the hands becomes tighterI and' tighter the greater the inclination of the hands toward the lap-side, while, if the hands are madeto bear on the closed side of the roll, said roll becomes unrolled. But

as the hands are inclined toward the lap-side of the roll, they assume a tendency to push said roll out oijcr the end of the supporting plat-form, and this teude'ncy is counter-acted by the slow motion of the apron in a direction opposite to that in which the hands tend, to push the roll.

/fAs the operation progresses, the roll becomes smaller 3. The travelling apron D, in combination with the plat-form E and with the hands G, substantially as described.

4. The springs g, in coml'linntionm'ith the arms H, hands G, and platform E, substantially as set forth.

Witness our hands this 30th day of December, 1869.

FRANCIS DEGEN. A. PELISSE.

XVitnesses:

HUBERT G. HULL, E. F. KASTENHUBER. 

